Can I just say that this was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME experience!!!

I was sooooooo thrilled to be able to share this destination shoot with these awesome Seniors and moms!!!

We’ve been planning this trip for months!! When you are coordinating a trip for 18, it takes MONTHS!! hahahaha But considering all that we were doing that needed security clearances, it was imperative that we made sure we began preparations months out. And my assistant Jen did an awesome job!!

But you also know what they say about planning…always have a plan A, B, C…and maybe D…I think we ended up operating on plan G at some point during this trip. 🙂 hahahahahha

We left out on Thursday afternoon with 17 of us in three vehicles, caravanning to Stafford, VA. Just as we were about to leave, the hotel called my assistant Jen to let her know that somehow there had been a glitch in their system and they no longer had the six rooms we had reserved months ago!!! WHAT?!?!!?!?! I thought I was going to be sick….and I think Jen turned 40 shades of RED!!! They were able to get us 5 rooms at another hotel in the area and keep one room available for us at their hotel. (that’s not the end of that story…I’ll come back to this situation..hahahaha)

So we arrive safely, get everyone checked it…all the kiddos enjoyed a swim before bed. And then we wake up to receipts for our ONE NIGHT stay under our doors…like we had CHECKED OUT!!! Mind you, we had to be in DC for a White House tour at 10 am. Which anyone who knows DC traffic and security, that meant that we had to leave at 8am!!!

Needless to say, there was a “kind” conversation with the front desk that involved us politely telling the manager we would not be back to check out that day and they’d need to create magic in their reservations because they’d be having us another night. It all worked out and the original hotel found us rooms for the last night of our trip!! hahahaha….

We all decided it was a great life lesson in being flexible, a problem solver, and an advocate for working things out in a nice way….but also not letting anyone mess up our day of tours!!! hahahaha

After all of that was resolved, we headed into the city and enjoyed a day full of sight-seeing. There was the White House ( you can literally feel the history when looking at past Presidents’ china sets, wall portraits, and stand in the ballrooms you see during press conferences), The American History Museum, The Natural History Museum, dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then a wonderful evening at the Marine Barracks at 8th and I where we saw the Silent Drill Team perform. Whew…we were all worn out!!!!!!

The next day we headed over to the Marine Corps Base at Quantico where we were given a tour of the Presidential Helicopter Squadron and were even able to sit in the VERY SEAT that many Presidents have also sat in!! It was a GREAT tour!!

We then headed into hair and makeup to prep for our drive back into the city for our Photo Shoot at the Jefferson Memorial. Can I tell you that I began to sweat a little when I checked the weather app one last time before the drive in…um…it looked like we’d have about an hour window to get the shoot in because a HUGE storm was coming in. Luckily, I had scouted the location a few months back and knew right where I wanted to do the shoot….now we just prayed the whole ride into the city….and let me just say that I refreshed the radar on my phone so much that my finger was hurting!! hahahahahahaha

And for once, the weather app was right!!! We literally did a one hour shoot before we raced back to the vans to avoid the torrential downpours that followed! The coolest part was the sky….you could literally see the storm rolling in. Boy were we blessed it all worked out!!!

All of our teens were so AMAZING!!! They dealt with the heat like champs, they had wonderful manners, and were just so much fun to hang out with!!! I pray everyone enjoyed their trip and their beautiful images from the shoot!! It was truly a trip to remember!!! It was a blessing to be able to share this experience with them and to make these awesome memories together!! I know this shoot will forever hold a special place in my heart!! Semper Fidelis!

(all sightseeing pics are from my iphone…it was too hot to lug around my big camera…hahahaha)

Front Row Seating for our kiddos!!!